


Lost Souls

by puppyfacedbrokenboys



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The 100
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Canon Compliant, Chance Meetings, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 05:57:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3558686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyfacedbrokenboys/pseuds/puppyfacedbrokenboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He pulls himself up and hears a war cry and a whoosh. Before he can even move, a body is slammed into him, yelling “Run!” over him as hands grip his sweater and he’s hauled to his feet.</p><p>[Canon compliant up to the TW Season 3B finale and The 100 S2 finale.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lost Souls

**Author's Note:**

> Started from a random au headcanon now we here...
> 
> I just really wanted Clarke and Ethan (my two baaabies) to meet and this happened?? They are in similar situations if you think about it.

Ethan ends up wandering around aimlessly after leaving Beacon Hills, trying to find himself after losing his brother and having his boyfriend let him go. One day in the woods he trips and rolls down a hill, and after a tingling sensation he finds himself in the woods again.

But it’s not the same woods. He’s sure of it. Everything is somehow greener and there’s a weird, electric scent to the air and a layer of dead and quiet… almost as if the woods hadn’t been touched in a while.

He pulls himself up and hears a war cry and a _whoosh_. Before he can even move, a body is slammed into him, yelling, “Run!” over him as hands grip his sweater and he’s hauled to his feet.

Ethan’s used to being in danger, a breath away from death. So he listens, no questions asked, as he’s thrown back into survival mode and he starts to run, trying to use his body to block the other person, but he’s met with a hard shove and a “Just go!” for his efforts.

He chances a glance back and he sees a mane of blonde hair whipping behind the person — _a girl?_ — and a face caked with dirt so thick he can’t see their skin. Their hand is still gripped in Ethan’s sweater, propelling him forward even though he doesn’t need it, and he puts on a burst of speed as another spear cuts through the air over the other’s head, the person not even flinching.

He runs and runs, not knowing where he’s going — just away from whatever has the spears. That’s all that matters. Even if he’s just running and dodging bushes and trees, green streaking past him. But the person behind him’s steps are sure, and that alone makes Ethan trust them.

They keep running until the person yanks his sweater to the right, and he’s pulled towards a tree where he trips and skids down a little alcove. Ethan grunts as he rolls, landing on his back as the other person slides in behind him, feet colliding with his side and making him groan. But it’s nothing he’s not used to.

"Where’d you come from?" It’s the person that saved him. _It_ is _a girl_ , he thinks. _Maybe_. Ethan’s eyes roam over the dark cover above their heads — _a cave?_ — before drifting to the girl’s face. When their eyes lock, the girl jumps back, a knife thrusted up in front of her. "What _are_ you?"

Ethan blinks, confused over the sudden change until he remembers. “Are my eyes glowing?”

The girl keeps the knife up, but narrows her eyes at him. Suspicious instead of skittish. “Uh, yes?”

"Oh." It’s a simple statement. Ethan closes his eyes and breathes — thinks of wicked smirks and fiery eyes, tan skin and Armani. He relaxes and feels his wolf recede. "Sorry, I, um… I’m not going to hurt you," he fumbles, and gives a lopsided grin. His ‘puppy grin’.

The girl - he’s sure it’s a girl now as she sits back a little and what looks like a seat belt is wrapped around her… chest. And she’s got a full mane of dirty blonde hair that she brushes from her eyes. “Is that an effect of radiation?”

It’s Ethan’s turn to sit up and look at her in confusion. “Rad—radiation? What?” he asks, arms falling over his knees as they’re pulled to closer to him. He’s ready to roll and kick, flee if he has to. His back leans against the cave wall for leverage as he waits for an answer.

The girl’s eyes roam over him from head to toe, an eyebrow slightly raised as the wheels in her head turn. It’s like she has x-ray vision and is trying to see through him. Figure him out. “You’re not from around here, are you?” It’s more of an observation than a question. A fact she’s decided on as she takes in his slightly baggy, light blue jeans and his orange sweater, streaked a little with dirt and wrinkled but still good clothes that are different from her dark, grungy ones.

“I don’t—” Ethan stops, pauses. Wherever they were, it didn’t feel familiar. But that didn’t tell him much, as he’s been so many different places lately he couldn’t keep track unless he stumbled into a city and he could pick out landmarks. Yet there was a very odd feeling about this place that he knew in his gut was not normal. “No, I guess I’m not…” he admitted slowly, brows knitting together as the realization settled over him. _Where am I?_

“Well, that doesn’t give much to go off of. You’re not a Grounder”— she ignored Ethan interjected ‘What?’ and trudged on— “so of course you’re not from around here. Are you from the Ark?”

“Uh… as in Noah’s Ark?” Ethan questions.

“Yes, sort of. I mean, the Ark was named after his, but… not the same. You’d know the difference,” the girl says and shifts. She leans back a little, but the knife stays up as her arms rest on her knees. “So you didn’t… fall from space?”

“What? _No_ ,” Ethan scoffs, shakes his head. Was that a joke? He sobers up as he realizes her face is serious and she’s not kidding. “Uh… did _you_?”

She shrugs. “Yeah, to put it simply.” And with that, the subject was dropped. Ethan could tell from the way she sighs and rests her head on the wall. Ethan squirms at the tension that fell over her and he got it. There were just some things you just didn’t want to talk about.

Ethan relaxes his limbs, looking the girl over and deciding he was safe with her. He shifts his knees closer to his chest and leans forward, holding out a hand. “I’m Ethan, by the way. Thanks for saving me,” he says with a grins and is delighted to see a small smile grace the other’s features.

“No problem,” she says, shaking his hand. “I’m Clarke. So… if glowing eyes isn’t a radiation side-effect… what was it?” Cut right to the chase. He likes this girl.

“Uh…” Ethan lets his hand drop and looks down at his knees. “I’m a werewolf…” It comes out slow, and if it weren’t for the dark quiet around them she probably wouldn’t have heard him.

“A werewolf? As in an actual part man, part wolf?” she clarifies. But there’s no fear in her voice. Just an honest tone that wonders if she heard him correctly and didn’t want to be wrong. Accepting nonchalance.

“Uh, yeah? Have you… heard of them before?”

“Only in books… but after what I’ve seen, I can believe it.” Again, her tone is clipped and Ethan decides not to delve any deeper. He knows how it feels to have gone through so much and not want to talk about it. And from Clarke’s appearance, she looks like she’s been through hell and back, to put it simply.

“Oh… yeah. I’m one in the flesh,” Ethan jokes. His eyes flash again and he shows his fangs. Clarke giggles, and it’s a weird reaction but Ethan takes it. Her laugh is nice, a little rough like it hasn’t been used in a while. It’s nice to see her face light up the tiniest bit. So if Ethan’s sharp fangs can bring her a little humor, so be it. She looks like she needs it, and it makes Ethan feel good.

When her giggles die down a little, she’s back to the point. “So, if you’re not from space where are you from?”

Ethan brings a hand up to scratch at a piece of dirt that’s fallen on him. “Uh… from a little bit of everywhere. I was sort of on the run… Never really had a place. The closest thing to home was a place called Beacon Hills, in California.” There was something about Clarke that made his nerves ease. The openness and truth in her eyes made him feel safe enough to tell her some things. He didn’t have a clue why, but it was just nice. He didn’t want to question it.

Clarke narrows her eyes a little, thinking over his words. She’s trying to place the name he figures, so he says, “It’s a small town. Probably never heard of it…” But she shakes her head.

“No, I figured… but you’re from California?” The name is foreign in her mouth… like she’s never heard of it. “California… I read about that place. Looked pretty.”

He catches the past-tense, and suddenly, Ethan knew for a fact he shouldn’t be here. He’d been in trouble with witches and wizards and fairies before, nasty little beings they could be. His mind tries to work backwards to pinpoint if he’s pissed anyone off lately. “Wait… where are we?”

“The Ground,” Clarke’s quick to reply. “Earth?” she adds at Ethan’s befuddlement.

Earth? Well, Earth is good. At least he’s still on his planet and not some other planet. He can work with Earth. “Where on Earth?”

Clarke shrugs, and scratches at a piece of dried mud on her face. “Uh… that I’m not too sure about. Fell from space, remember?”

Oh, right. That wasn’t much help in trying to find out where they were. If she fell from space, maybe she was in the same situation as he was. Stumbled down a hill and landed here… wherever here was.

“So it looks like we’re both lost,” Ethan jokes again and Clarke doesn’t smile.

“Looks like you are, but I know right where I am.” Her tones betrays her and tells Ethan she in fact does not know where she is. And it’s not in the physical sense. Ethan doesn’t tell her that.

They’re quiet after that and once Clarke checks to make the coast is clear, they leave the whole and move on. Clarke teaches Ethan a little about the woods and how to defend himself. “Claws and fangs are not going to save you here.” And they just sort of wander around, keeping each other company.

Two sort of lost souls having found each other for a reason that neither were privy to.

As the days went by, they became more comfortable. Comfortable enough to share little bits of their stories here and there until it was all out. They both were trying to find themselves under the heavy weight of the world on their shoulders; guilt eating slowly away at their insides; and a knot of grief in their hearts that could never fully fade.

They helped each other the best they could, convincing each other to do what was the right thing for them, as they both were running from something. Ethan helped Clarke realize that she had found a home, and her people needed her. She did a terrible thing, and she could never be cleansed of it, but running from the people she saved would only bring more despair. In turn, Clarke helped Ethan realize he too had found a home and it was time to stop running.

They said their good nights one night over the dying embers of a fire and then the next they were hundreds of years and light years apart, both with a small smile and pieces of the weight chipped from their shoulders.


End file.
